Command structure in the AWS CLI

This topic covers how AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) command is structured, and how to use wait commands.

Command structure

The AWS CLI uses a multipart structure on the command line that must be specified in this order:

1. The base call to the aws program.

2. The top-level command, which typically corresponds to an AWS service supported by the AWS CLI.

3. The subcommand that specifies which operation to perform.

4. General AWS CLI options or parameters required by the operation. You can specify these in any order as long as they follow the first three parts. If an exclusive parameter is specified multiple times, only the last value applies.

$ aws <command> <subcommand> [options and parameters]

Parameters can take various types of input values, such as numbers, strings, lists, maps, and JSON structures. What is supported is dependent upon the command and subcommand you specify.

Examples

Amazon S3

The following example lists all of your Amazon S3 buckets.

$ aws s3 ls
2018-12-11 17:08:50 my-bucket
2018-12-14 14:55:44 my-bucket2

For more information on the Amazon S3 commands, see aws s3 in the AWS CLI Command Reference.

aws s3

AWS CloudFormation

The following change-set-create-complete command example changes the cloudformation stack name to my-change-set.

$ aws cloudformation change-set-create-complete --stack-name my-stack --change-set-name my-change-set

For more information on the AWS CloudFormation commands, see aws cloudformation in the AWS CLI Command Reference.

Wait commands

Some AWS services have wait commands available. Any command that uses aws wait usually waits until a command is complete before it moves on to the next step. This is especially useful for multipart commands or scripting, as you can use a wait command to prevent moving to subsequent steps if the wait command fails.

The AWS CLI uses a multipart structure on the command line for the wait command that must be specified in this order:

1. The base call to the aws program.

2. The top-level command, which typically corresponds to an AWS service supported by the AWS CLI.

3. The wait command.

4. The subcommand that specifies which operation to perform.

5. General CLI options or parameters required by the operation. You can specify these in any order as long as they follow the first three parts. If an exclusive parameter is specified multiple times, only the last value applies.

$ aws <command> wait <subcommand> [options and parameters]

Parameters can take various types of input values, such as numbers, strings, lists, maps, and JSON structures. What is supported is dependent upon the command and subcommand you specify.

Note

Not every AWS service supports wait commands. See the AWS CLI reference guide to see if your service supports wait commands.

Examples

AWS CloudFormation

The following wait change-set-create-complete command examples pauses and resumes only after it can confirm that the my-change-set change set in the my-stack stack is ready to run.

$ aws cloudformation wait change-set-create-complete --stack-name my-stack --change-set-name my-change-set

For more information on the AWS CloudFormation wait commands, see wait in the AWS CLI Command Reference.

AWS CodeDeploy

The following wait deployment-successful command examples pauses until the d-A1B2C3111 deployment completes successfully.

$ aws deploy wait deployment-successful --deployment-id d-A1B2C3111

For more information on the AWS CodeDeploy wait commands, see wait in the AWS CLI Command Reference.